Actors of Wesleyan, come audition for Morgan Ross’ upcoming thesis film, a moving tale of two siblings dealing with the death of their father. We will be casting all genders. Please come ready for a cold read. No film experience necessary! Any further questions, shoot me an email at nklein[at]wesleyan[dot]edu.

The screenings of the 2013 Thesis films are this weekend. All showings are in the Goldsmith Family Cinema. 16mm is Friday 8pm, Sunday 2pm. Digitals are Saturday and Sunday at 8pm. Tickets are $5. They are sold on a first come, first serve basis, limited to one per person, and go on sale 45 minutes before showtime.

Important note: The film screenings did not sell out last year either of the opening nights. Although many folks show up especially early to get good seats, please do not let that discourage you from arriving much closer to the showtime. We want as many people as humanely possible to enjoy our films.

On each night of the film screenings we will announce on the Facebook event page when/if the tickets have sold out. If you do not see a post on there, assume that seats are still available and come down.

Tired of capital campaigns yet? Too bad. Making movies is expensive, and #thisiswhy thesis filmmakers Gus Vita ’13 and Dema Paxton Fofang ’13 (otherwise known as The Artist Formerly Known as Bamenda) are asking for your help in the form of a Kickstarter and an IndieGogo campaign, respectively. Vita’s asking for $3,000 and Fofang’s asking for $1,000, which comes to $4,000 total between the two of them, which still only amounts to .016% of the budget of Michael Bay ’86’s next $25 million opus (and that’s not counting the extra millions for advertising), so throw them a bone, will you? (At any rate, both of them have raised substantial funds towards their goals as of this posting—but they need more.)

You’d be right in assuming that filming is complete for both movies, so why raise money now? As Fofang explains it, “both of our projects were shot on 16mm, and the post-production process for that format is quite expensive. I’m currently spending long hours each day editing the film on a Steenbeck, and prepping for the final stages of post-production.” A cursory glance at Fofang’s own fundraising campaign reveals in detail where the money’s going: hiring a negative cutter to assemble the final cut, hiring a professional sound mixer to optimize the soundtrack, answer prints, color correction, telecine, festival distribution fees.

The one and only Michael Steves ’13 is needs people that can control smaller people:

Have you ever made or operated puppets? If so, your skills are needed! I am looking for several talented people to make and operate puppets for my senior thesis film, titled “Tony in Spectaculand”. The film is about a gritty, beleaguered police officer who has to rescue his daughter from a child-like wonderland after she flees the drudgery of the real world.

We are hoping to include several fantastical puppet creatures in the film, similar in style to those in The Dark Crystal (though much more low-key). Email me at msteves(at)wesleyan(dot)edu if you are interested.

Calling all actors, male and female! This might just be the film for YOU to star in. And it will be directed by the lovely Stefan Skripak ’13. Auditions will take place 1:30-4 in PAC 001 More info via producer Albert Tholen ’15 below:

We are looking to fill two parts:

Boy– a wide-eyed young man who has yet to learn the consequences of his child-like faith

Girl – a striking young woman with a curious innocence and understanding of the natural world around her

Today’s visit by Miguel Arteta ’89 reminded me of his award-winning senior thesis film, Every Day is a Beautiful Day. This, along with a discussion among Wesleying contributors, inspired this roundup of past senior thesis films available on the internet. Lots more after the jump.

Wesleyan film productions are underway and the seniors need your help!

If you’re interested in working on a senior film production, come learn the ropes this Friday at the Center for Film Studies. We will be doing a short but detailed workshop covering all the equipment we use on the set. Big lights, cameras, dollies, sound equipment and much much more! Anyone interested in film production should feel free to attend.

In “Grand Prize” (digital), a struggling musician becomes obsessed with winning a contest for a laundry detergent commercial jingle in order to redeem himself and his marriage. But winning wasn’t all he hoped it would be…

In “The Story of Spencer and Nancy” (16mm), 25-year-old Spencer remembers his first love through the perspective of himself as an 11-year-old. Everything is smooth as… honey until she disappears in a hot air balloon.